2 Comments:

Hi,I have Chinese Elm which I bought back in April’12 from another online nursery and has been growing well indoors, until about November when slowly by slowly all the leaves dropped off leaving a completely bear tree. I have recently re-potted it as I felt the soil for which it was originally planted in was too compacted and had white insects in the soil. I completely washed away all soil and had a look at the root system cutting back if necessary and re-potted in a Akadama soil mix. I have also preformed a cambium test on a couple of the branches and they are both showing a dark green underneath the bark. Is there anything else I can do for it at present or will I have to wait till nearer spring to see ?

Spring is the thing… Now, a couple of point. Bonsai are trees and, as such, need to be grown outdoors where they get the day/night temperature changes, wind, rain, dew and sunlight. Elms are very hardy but the tree will not thrive in an indoor situation.

During winter with no leaves to use moisture make sure the soil is moist but not wet. This means that you can possibly water every other day or so but if the soil is too damp for too long a time the roots will rot. Your cambium test is good news. Bright green is good news. Dull yellow green is not. Keep the tree in full sun outside [if at all possible] and water lightly over winter and look for new bud formation in the next month or so… fat swellings along the branchlets.